Grammarist is a professional online English grammar dictionary, that provides a variety of grammatical tools, rules and tips in order to improve your grammar and to help you distinguish between commonly misspelled words.

Spelling bee

A spelling bee is a competition in which contestants are challenged to spell words, a misspelled word means the contestant is eliminated. Bee is used in America to mean a gathering of people to tackle communal work, such as a quilting bee or corn husking bee. The term spelling bee is found in 1825, but a competition referred to as a spelling match is found in 1808. The first national spelling bee was held in 1925, in 1941 Scripps Howard News Service acquired sponsorship of the National Spelling Bee. It is held annually in Washington D.C., children win local spelling bees and work their way up to the finals. In America, spelling bees are for children. Spelling bees would not be difficult in all languages, but the English language has 42 different sounds that are spelled in 400 different ways, which makes spelling a much more difficult endeavor.

Advertisement

Examples

Auckland schoolgirl Isobella Nicholls today became New Zealand’s 11th Spelling Bee Champion after competing in 11 rounds of arduous spelling against 17 of the country’s top teenage spellers. (The New Zealand Herald)

OMG, in an era when people commonly use abbreviations and emojis (picture characters) to communicate via text messages, Facebook and e-mails, Bill Smith is once again bucking the trend and promoting the 37th annual “Orland Park” open spelling bee for contestants ages 8 to 80. (The Chicago Tribune)

The spelling bee, hosted by the Grand Plaza Hotel in downtown Toledo, benefits Read for Literacy, which helps people of all ages with their reading skills. (The Toledo Blade)

Area school district representatives met Tuesday at the Jefferson County Educational Service Center to begin planning for the the 2016 Herald-Star, Jefferson-Harrison County Regional Spelling Bee. (The Steubenville Herald-Star)